Monday, 18 March 2013

Thornton Road Club’s AGM 2012 informal report

Thornton Road Club’s AGM
2012

Fresh, Succinct, Orderly

(An informal report by Eric Bates: ask the club secretary for the
official minutes)

Delayed
through an assortment of reasons, the club’s 2012 Annual General Meeting was
eventually held on 6 March 2013 at 7:30 pm in the bright large meeting-cum-breakfast
room of the Red Lion Hotel, Hythe. Nineteen club members attended including the
Chairman (Mike Winsor) and the Secretary-Treasurer (Gordon Davis). The meeting’s
12 scheduled agenda items and 3 impromptu any-other-business items were considered
and resolved in less than an hour, with little or no discord.

Comprehensive
minutes of the 2011 AGM were not available because the general disarray of that
meeting had diminished the prospect of writing an accurate, concise, and
complete record. Accordingly the secretary-treasurer had written abridged
minutes of that meeting which, as the first agenda item of the 2012 AGM, he
read out. They were approved by a show of hands. Remarkably, in view of last
year’s argumentative assembly, there were no matters arising from these
minutes.

In
separate brief reviews of the club’s 2012 achievements, the chairman and the
secretary-treasurer both expressed immense satisfaction at the club’s
performance in sportives and time trials, particularly the 24-hour time trial,
and both hoped for continuing competitive progress. In a pecuniary tone, the
secretary-treasurer reported that, to date, only 31 members were fully
subscribed for 2013-14; in case anyone had forgotten, subscriptions were due on
or about 1 February in any year.

The
meeting moved on to the election, or re-election, en bloc, of club officials
namely the chairman and race secretary, the secretary and treasurer, the
clothing secretary, and the touring secretary. By a show or hands, Mike Winsor,
Gordon Davis, Russ Mason, and Ian Fowler were respectively installed in these
posts. The post of social secretary, formerly held by Toni Spain, had become
vacant. Toni believed that new blood and fresh ideas were needed in the role
and she had stood down. No candidate had emerged before the meeting, but at
this point Russ Mason volunteered for the post. His appointment was duly
endorsed, as were those of nine runs captains (Trevor Hall, Richard Foster,
Danny Frost, Bob Sanders, Trevor Hammond, Carol Foster, Heidi Hammond, Sarah
Pringle, and Pat Geary). And, in a new post, Luke Klugman was endorsed as secretary
for the London area.

Two
proposals for specific cycling events in 2013-14 were approved, i.e. an East
Kent inter-club two-day three-stage event (a 3-up time trial, a 10-mile individual
time trial, and a circuit race at Fowlmead) to be initiated by Malcolm
Strickland. And organised club rides in France, to be arranged by Don Houghton.

Three
further proposals all endorsed by the meeting added potency and structure to the
main social event of 2013. There is to be a Saturday night Christmas event in a
reputable venue that would be organised by the new social secretary, assisted
by a new committee (Gordon Davis, Nick Farrer, Danny Frost, and Nick Wood). The
event would include a short presentation session (perhaps of half an hour) of
club trophies and other competitive merit awards.

London
member Luke Klugman was working on a dissertation for his degree in information
technology. That dissertation related to the hypothetical computerisation of a
cycling club, and would include, among other things, the use of electronic
questionnaires to enable a club to seek timely opinions from members on
important matters. Luke’s dissertation would be completed in September 2013. He
had already consented to TRC using any of the ideas that he would advocate,
including electronic questionnaires. The meeting now endorsed in principle, and
if suitable, the use of the Klugman questionnaire system.

The
secretary-treasurer advised that the club could save about £200 a year by
ending the awarding of achievement medals, to be replaced by the awarding of achievement
certificates. The meeting articulated the need for such certificates to be
well-designed and to have dignity and gravitas. It was also thought vital that
a ‘historical roll of honour’ be created and maintained so that contemporary performances
in specific contests could be compared with past performances. Members endorsed
this proposal.

As
for the last of the agenda items, the meeting endorsed the proposed increase in
subscriptions, from £12 a year to £15 for senior members who wished to ‘race’
in the coming year. ‘Race’ was to be broadly interpreted and appeared to
include time trials, hill climbs, road races, and track or circuit races. So if
members are relatively young and strong and wish to demonstrate their prowess
in competitions of any kind, they should be safe and pay £15 a year.

When
the chairman asked if there was any other business, there were three respondents.
First John Laker reminded members that he was organising the KCTT/VTTA 30-mile
time trial scheduled for Sunday 12 May this year. He was seeking volunteers to
help on the day: marshalling, results board at the Hamstreet HQ, and others.
Those who helped so constructively at the equivalent event in 2012 may like to
render service again this year. They, and anyone else who is interested, should
call John Laker (see the CTT Handbook 2013 for details). Second, Eric Bates
pointed out that he and Richard Foster, as monitors of the annual financial
statements, had asked in their 2012 report that the AGM endorse and approve the
annual statements. Copies of the narrative annual reports had already been
circulated to club members. The meeting duly endorsed the annual reports. And
thirdly, Heidi Hammond said there was an urgent need to install a subscription
reminder system, because many members were unsure about when subscriptions
became due. She volunteered to help. With the aid of the secretary-treasurer,
she could computerise the membership list, including email addresses, and then
despatch necessary email reminders that would expedite collection of subscriptions.
The secretary-treasurer agreed amidst cries of approval from members, and he
promised to make available the membership list promptly.

Welcome

Thornton Road Club is a cycling club centred on Dymchurch and Romney Marsh while embracing the Kent coastal towns and villages situated between Folkestone and New Romney. Its members engage in the congeniality of regular cycling.